A major wave of extinctions
is currently occurring in woodland birds throughout southern Australia,
including New South Wales. Of great concern is not only the large number of
existing, more specialised threatened species such as the Regent Honeyeater,
Swift Parrot, and Bush Stone-Curlew, but that formerly widespread and common
species such as the Grey-crowned Babbler, Brown Treecreeper, Hooded Robin and
Diamond Firetail are now declining rapidly. The cause of these declines is loss
of habitat. In agricultural areas, most of the complex natural ecosystems have
been replaced by human-managed systems which causes a reduction in the
biodiversity (number of plants and animals).
The Liverpool Plains,
located in north-central NSW, is typical of temperate woodland regions in
south-east Australia. The major landuses of the Liverpool Plains catchment are
cropping and grazing. The major crops include wheat, barley, chickpeas,
fababeans, sorghum, sunflowers, soybeans, maize and cotton whilst grazing
comprises beef and sheep. The majority of more fertile alluvial soils (native
grassland and Poplar Box country) has been cleared, while larger areas of
remnant vegetation remain on poorer sandy and ridge top soils (Ironbark,
Callitris Pine and Stringybark).
Birds Australia is pleased
to announce that it has received funding from the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), the Threatened Species Network (TSN) and the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT)
to undertake a project in the Liverpool Plains. The ‘Saving the Woodland Birds
of the Liverpool Plains’ project aims to work directly with the Liverpool Plains
Land Management Committee (LPLMC) and local landowners to obtain protection for
woodland bird habitat. The project also aims to use ‘focal species’ work to
identify the requirements of key bird species in the landscape.
With assistance from
landholders, local naturalists, Birds Australia members and interested people
from the public, we will be conducting bird surveys (targetting threatened
species) in the Liverpool Plains Catchment, and will use data from the Atlas
projects, to identify threatened species locations. From these data, in
conjunction with the LPLMC, we hope to identify sites of high conservation value
for protection or revegetation work. We then aim to use ‘focal species analysis’
to develop recommendations on how landholders can best enhance biodiversity in
their region. This involves identifying the species in a particular area that
are most sensitive to particular factors, such as distance between remnants,
size of remnants, presence or absence of understorey shrubs or grasses. For
example, Grey-crowned Babblers are particularly sensitive to distance between
remnants while Hooded Robins may need large areas of remnant vegetation and
complex habitat.
It is proposed that surveys
will occur for 5 days of every month for the next 12 months (most likely the
forth week of each month). Surveys will encompass all woodland bird species but
will specifically target Bush Stone-curlew, Regent Honeyeater, Square-tailed
Kite, Glossy Black-cockatoo, Swift Parrot, Turquoise Parrot, Powerful Owl,
Barking Owl, Masked Owl, Painted Honeyeater, Brown Treecreeper, Hooded Robin,
Speckled Warbler, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Grey-crowned Babbler, and Diamond
Firetail. Accomodation will be bush camping in State Forests of the region and
volunteers are requested to provide their own camping equipment and food.
Transport for those who live en route from Sydney may be provided. Those
interested should contact the Saving the Woodland Birds of the Liverpool Plains
Project Co-ordinator, Peter Ekert at the Birds Australia Sydney office on (02)
94361349 or 0410566104 or email .
